Humanoid Robot Connectors and Cables

Power and feedback to every joint, routed through limbs, surviving the life of the machine. Amphenol interconnect for humanoid platforms, including RoboConn™, a hybrid connector designed for this class of robot.

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Why Humanoids Are the Hardest Interconnect Problem

The Ø8.5 mm Problem

A humanoid limb is mostly structure and actuator. What is left for the harness is a narrow bore, so the connector’s outside diameter decides the design long before its current rating does.

Power and Feedback per Joint

Every actuated joint needs drive current and position feedback. Splitting them into two runs doubles what has to pass through the joint; a hybrid connector carries both in one.

Motion Never Stops

The cable flexes every time the robot moves. Flex-cycle life stops being a datasheet footnote and becomes the number that determines service interval.

Assembled Blind

Boards stack inside sealed limb and torso assemblies where no one can see the mating face. Self-aligning, scoop-proof housings make that assembly repeatable instead of hopeful.

A Human-Scale Envelope Changes Every Decision

Humanoid robots replicate human motion and interaction, which puts them into healthcare, service and assistive roles as well as industrial ones. The engineering consequence is that the machine has to fit a human envelope while carrying dozens of actuated joints, a perception stack and its own power.

That constraint cascades. Mass in a limb is mass the actuator has to accelerate, so harness weight is a performance figure, not an afterthought. Space between structural members sets connector diameter. Continuous articulation sets flex life. And because switching motors sit centimetres from camera and LiDAR runs, shielding decides whether the perception data arrives clean.

Amphenol’s response is miniature, lightweight, high-speed connectors built for compact dynamic architectures — and, in RoboConn™, a part specified for humanoid platforms rather than adapted to them.

Featured Products — Joint and Board Interconnect

RoboConn™ Wire-to-Board Connectors and Cables

Hybrid power and signal, designed for humanoid robots

A hybrid wire-to-board connector and cable system combining power delivery and high-speed data in one compact, rugged run. Two 20 A power contacts sit alongside up to five configurable signal pins, supporting 60 V DC power and 100BASE-TX Ethernet — in a profile slim enough to pass through an 8.5 mm bore.

Power: 20 A per power pin, 60 V DC
Data: 100BASE-TX Ethernet at 100 Mb/s
Envelope: passes a Ø8.5 mm hole
Signal pins: configurable from 0 to 5
Vibration: V2 rated
Durability: over 150,000 cable flex cycles, 100 mating cycles
Temperature: −40 °C to +125 °C, 30 °C max temperature rise
Wire: 16–20 AWG power, 26–30 AWG signal
Compliance: UL 94 V-0 housing, RoHS

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ComboStak® 0.50mm & PowerStak® 2.00mm

Hybrid board-to-board for stacked control and power boards

Compact hybrid board-to-board connectors that put 2.00 mm power blades and 0.50 mm high-speed signal pins in a single housing, so a control board and its power stage mate in one action. Self-alignment and a scoop-proof housing support blind mating inside a closed assembly.

Power: up to 25 A per blade, 2 to 10 blades on 2.00 mm pitch
Signal: 20 to 120 pins on 0.50 mm pitch
Speed: PCIe® Gen 4 at 16 Gb/s, USB Type-C at 20 Gb/s
Stack height: 5 mm to 20 mm
Blind mating: ±0.4 mm misalignment tolerance, scoop-proof
Vibration: meets USCAR-2 V2 shock and vibration
Contact system: reliable 4-point power contact
Materials: UL 94 V-0 LCP to 125 °C, RoHS and halogen-free

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BergStak® 0.40mm Self-Alignment

Fine-pitch board-to-board built for blind mating

A 0.40 mm fine-pitch board-to-board connector with a self-alignment feature that supports blind mating, for the stacked control and sensor boards buried inside a limb or torso assembly. USCAR-2 compliant, so its vibration and shock limits are qualified against automotive practice.

Pitch: 0.40 mm fine pitch
Stack height: 3.50 mm
Positions: 30 standard, 10 to 60 in increments of 10
Speed: up to 8 Gb/s, meets PCIe® Gen 3
Assembly: self-alignment feature supports blind mating
Vibration: meets USCAR-2 vibration and shock limits
Compliance: RoHS, halogen-free and lead-free

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Featured Products — Sensing, Peripherals and Contacts

Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) IP67

Sealed circular push-pull for sensors and actuators

IEC 63171-6 compliant sealed Ethernet in an M12-size circular push-pull form factor, bringing direct Ethernet to sensors, actuators and vision cameras. A single pair carries both data and power, cutting cable count, weight and space against two- and four-pair alternatives.

Speed: 1 Gb/s to 40 m, 10 Mb/s to 1 km
Power: 4 A rating, supports PoDL up to 1 km on 18 AWG
Sealing: IP67, including full immersion when mated
Shielding: 360° interior shielding through the mated pair
Latching: circular push-pull coupling ring prevents accidental unmating
Termination: field-terminable IDC plugs
Standard: IEC 63171-6, cross-compatible with authorised vendors

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Mini HSBridge+

Vibration-qualified USB Type-C for high-speed peripherals

An automotive-grade USB Type-C interface in a 24 × 14.3 × 12.2 mm body. Amphenol lists it in the humanoid section for a specific reason: it is a standard 10 Gb/s USB interface that has been qualified to automotive vibration practice, which is the credential a moving robot needs from a consumer interface.

Speed: USB 3.2 Gen 2, up to 10 Gb/s
Current: up to 5 A
Size: 24 × 14.3 × 12.2 mm, 0.50 mm pitch
Vibration: meets USCAR-2 V1 with Connector Position Assurance
Header: compliant with USCAR-30
Certification: USB-IF TID certified
Temperature: −40 °C to +105 °C

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Spring Contacts

Docking, charging and grounding contact interfaces

Spring fingers and spring-loaded contacts for signal, power and grounding where two surfaces meet rather than two connectors — charge docks, battery interfaces and chassis grounding. Formed in one stamping step, in a range of heights that suits low-profile assemblies.

Heights: 1.70 mm to 16.00 mm as standard
Temperature: −40 °C to +105 °C
Materials: stainless steel and copper alloy
Plating: gold, tin or nickel options
Assembly: one-step stamped form, easy to place
Function: signal transmission, power delivery and grounding

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Choosing a Hybrid Interconnect

Feature	RoboConn™	ComboStak® / PowerStak®	BergStak® 0.40mm SA
Interface	Wire-to-board and cable	Board-to-board	Board-to-board
Carries	Power and signal	Power and signal	Signal only
Current per contact	20 A per power pin	25 A per power blade	Signal level
Data rate	100 Mb/s (100BASE-TX)	16 Gb/s PCIe® Gen 4, 20 Gb/s USB-C	8 Gb/s, PCIe® Gen 3
Blind mating	Latch locking, no tools	±0.4 mm, scoop-proof	Self-alignment feature
Vibration qualification	V2 rated	USCAR-2 V2	USCAR-2 limits
Best suited to	Runs through a joint to an actuator	Stacked control and power boards	Dense signal stacks in a sealed assembly

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. RoboConn™ is described by Amphenol as a compact, vibration-resistant hybrid connector for humanoid robots, combining two 20 A power pins with up to five configurable signal pins. Most of the rest of the humanoid portfolio is drawn from Amphenol’s miniature and automotive-qualified ranges, chosen because their size and vibration credentials suit the application.

RoboConn™ passes through a Ø8.5 mm hole, which is the figure that usually decides whether a harness can run through a joint at all. If your limb structure is tighter than that, tell us the bore and we will work back from it.

RoboConn™ is rated at over 150,000 cable flex cycles and 100 mating cycles. Flex cycles are the number that matters in a limb, because the cable articulates every time the joint does; mating cycles matter at service points where the assembly is opened.

Because USCAR-2 is the established standard for vibration and shock on a moving machine, and there is no equivalent humanoid-specific standard yet. ComboStak® meets USCAR-2 V2, and BergStak® 0.40mm Self-Alignment meets USCAR-2 vibration and shock limits. In practice it is the closest available proxy for what a walking robot does to a connector.

Repeatable assembly. Boards inside a sealed limb or torso are mated where no one can see the interface. ComboStak® tolerates ±0.4 mm of misalignment with a scoop-proof housing, and BergStak® 0.40mm Self-Alignment adds a self-aligning feature, so the connector finds its mate instead of relying on the operator or the fixture to be exact.

Single Pair Ethernet is usually the cleanest answer. One pair carries 1 Gb/s to 40 m with PoDL power up to 4 A on the same conductors, so each sensor needs one sealed run instead of separate data and power cables. The IP67 version has 360° shielding through the mated interface, which matters when the run passes close to switching motors.

Yes. RoboConn™ ships with zero to five signal pins alongside its two power contacts, with power wire from 16 to 20 AWG and signal wire from 26 to 30 AWG. Lengths and terminations are configured to the mechanical layout — send us the routing and we will quote the assembly.

Yes. Sample and prototype quantities are available ahead of production release, which matters while a joint design is still changing. Contact our engineering team with the configuration you are evaluating.

Building a Humanoid Platform?

Tell us the bore your harness has to pass through, the current each joint draws and the flex life you need. We will work back to a part, samples and full datasheets.